'''According to Frumple, the CoreProtect plugin "ran out of integer IDs to track block changes" and could not record any further block changes. This resulted in error messages which reportedly caused lag to the server Tuesday morning. Frumple said he was attempting to increase the ID limit, but said this operation would take several hours. Later in Discord he suggested the operation could take an estimated 35 hours, but indicated this estimate may not be accurate. If the operation is unsuccessful, CoreProtect data from the past year will have to be purged, which could also take hours and would result in there being no record of any block changes prior to the time of the purge.'''

'''According to Frumple, the CoreProtect plugin "ran out of integer IDs to track block changes" and could not record any further block changes. This resulted in error messages which reportedly caused lag to the server Tuesday morning. Frumple said he was attempting to increase the ID limit, but said this operation would take several hours. Later in Discord he suggested the operation could take an estimated 35 hours, but indicated this estimate may not be accurate. If the operation is unsuccessful, CoreProtect data from the past year will have to be purged, which could also take hours and would result in there being no record of any block changes prior to the time of the purge.'''

−

'''Frumple currently estimates the server to be back up at 9 PM PDT on Wednesday. The server has been down since at least 10:48 AM EDT on Tuesday morning.'''

+

'''After a previous estimate of 9 PM PDT on Wednesday, Frumple currently estimates the server to be back up at 9 AM PDT on Thursday. The server has been down since at least 10:48 AM EDT on Tuesday morning.'''

Revision as of 12:07, 13 June 2018

BREAKING NEWS - Server Down For Prolonged Period Due To CoreProtect Issue

The MRT server is currently down due to an issue with the CoreProtect plugin, and will remain down for "at least several hours", Frumple said.

According to Frumple, the CoreProtect plugin "ran out of integer IDs to track block changes" and could not record any further block changes. This resulted in error messages which reportedly caused lag to the server Tuesday morning. Frumple said he was attempting to increase the ID limit, but said this operation would take several hours. Later in Discord he suggested the operation could take an estimated 35 hours, but indicated this estimate may not be accurate. If the operation is unsuccessful, CoreProtect data from the past year will have to be purged, which could also take hours and would result in there being no record of any block changes prior to the time of the purge.

After a previous estimate of 9 PM PDT on Wednesday, Frumple currently estimates the server to be back up at 9 AM PDT on Thursday. The server has been down since at least 10:48 AM EDT on Tuesday morning.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 6/13/2018 @ 8:07 AM EDT

WolvHaven And MRT Reach Draft Security Agreement

After talks with officials from the WolvHaven Minecraft server, Frumple and the WolvHaven government announced on Saturday, June 9th that the MRT and WolvHaven servers had reached a security agreement for information sharing.

Frumple and a WolvHaven official posted a link to the agreement, which calls for the creation of a Discord server accessible to the Owners of both servers and others designated by the Owners, in which information about threats which could be material to the security of one or both servers is to be shared. Each server may also request records of warnings, bans, and past offenses of players from the administration of the other server, but personally identifiable information will not be shared. A provision in the agreement allows either server to terminate the agreement should it lose interest in participation, or if it believes the other server is not following the terms of the agreement.

The agreement has not yet taken effect, pending discussion at the next GSM and at the next session of the WolvHaven House of Representatives. A second meeting between the administrations of each server will take place on June 23rd to finalize the agreement.

The Fifth Eagle Awards in Wazamawazi took place on Saturday, June 9th. BluAir won the award for Outstanding Airline, while IntraAir led the count for the number of awards granted.

IntraAir won awards for Best Routes & Destinations, Best In-Flight Service, Best Business Class/Premium Economy, and Best First Class. Waypoint won the award for Best Ground Service, Cascadia Airways won the award for Best Economy Class, the SkyTransit Alliance won the award for best airline alliance, and Achowalogen Takachsin-Covina International Airport won the award for Best Airport.

The Eagle Awards, an award show which presents awards in various categories to companies in the airline industry, were originally scheduled for December, under the management of Eagle Entertainment Ltd, a company owned by hnt and kiwirainbow which has hosted the recurring Eagle Awards ceremonies since 2015. However, the fifth Eagle Awards didn't happen, and in February the event was placed under the control of _Kastle, who opened up nominations and voting forms for the awards. However, the ceremony never was given a scheduled date, and never happened.

In his announcement, _Kastle said it was his fault that the ceremony hadn't occurred, and announced he would be organizing it alongside Skelezomperman. The awards were hosted by _Kastle with Skelezomperman's assistance.

In the interest of full disclosure, IntraAir is owned by Feline Holdings, a parent company of MBS. Cascadia Airways is partly owned by Cascadia Air Group Limited, which is party owned by Epsilon Corporation, another parent company of MBS. Waypoint is owned as a joint venture between Epsilon Corporation and Cascadia Air Group Limited. As such, IntraAir, Cascadia Airways, and Waypoint are sister companies of MBS. All three airlines are part of the SkyTransit Alliance.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 6/12/2018 @ 11:20 AM EDT

SPORTS & GAMES - KittyCat11231 Wins Elecna Bay Summer Olympics

KittyCat11231 has won the medal count at the 2018 Summer Olympics, held in Elecna Bay on May 27th and June 2nd and 3rd.

KittyCat11231 received gold medals for horse racing, track racing, golf, rowing, PvP, and volleyball, and a silver medal in diving. AlfiePops tied in the overall medal count with two gold medals, a silver medal, and four bronze medals.

MBS recorded the Olympics, and our coverage will be uploaded event-by-event upon the completion of editing.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 6/9/2018 @ 2:14 PM EDT

SPORTS & GAMES - Cortesi Wins MGA IntraAir Open

The MRT Golf Association's second tournament in its first season, the IntraAir Open, took place in Hendon on Saturday, June 2nd, and was won by Cortesi.

The BOX Television Network, a sister company to MRT NewsChannel, broadcast the tournament live. Watch BOX coverage of the tournament as it happened live: https://youtu.be/x-XVhr4EWXE

The MGA MMB Cup took place on Saturday, May 26th in Venceslo, which was won by mine_man_. MBS coverage of the tournament can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/X4eLt6SLTbk

by KittyCat11231, last update: 6/9/2018 @ 2:14 PM EDT

SPORTS & GAMES - Team Taco Wins XI TacoBurritoAThon

Team Taco won the XI TacoBurritoAThon in Venceslo on Saturday, June 2nd at 10 PM EDT, hours after the second day of competition at the Olympics, and two weeks after the previous X TacoBurritoAThon.

The TacoBurritoAThon is a multi-sport event hosted by Skelezomperman which periodically takes place in different cities, featuring competitions in American Football, Sumotori, Spleef, Swimming, and a Marathon. The X TacoBurritoAThon also featured Hockey as a new sport. Archery was introduced in the XI TacoBurritoAThon.

by KittyCat11231, last update: 6/9/2018 @ 2:14 PM EDT

UNITED CITIES - United Cities History Committee Dissolved

The United Cities History Committee, created on October 1st, 2017 by then-UC President camelfantasy, has been dissolved.

Committee chair Skelezomperman proposed the resolution to abolish the committee, which he said was "going nowhere" after months of failing to accomplish many of its goals, including work on wiki pages and physically identifying landmarks in game. The resolution passed the General Assembly 3-2 and was signed by President _Kastle.

The History Committee was originally founded as an Executive Committee by President camelfantasy on October 1st, 2017, under the leadership of hnt. However, concerns over the lack of effective committee oversight under the Presidencies of camelfantasy and jphgolf4321 led the History Committee, as well as the Public Works Committee, to be converted by the General Assembly to Legislative Committees. However, in the months following this change of oversight, with resolutions enacted to push committees to complete their goals more efficiently, the committee continued to lag behind, even after a change in leadership from hnt to Skelezomperman.

One of the committee's responsibilities was to identify important historical landmarks on the MRT, place physical markers nearby in-game, and maintain information on the wiki for these landmarks. In the committee's nearly eight month history, not a single landmark was physically identified in-game, and little work was ever completed on the wiki.

Former committee chair Skelezomperman says he intends to start a private organization with similar objectives to the United Cities History Committee.

The Public Works Committee is due to release its next monthly report in the coming days.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/31/2018 @ 9:46 PM EDT

No Senator Or Governor Cities Promoted In Latest Batch

The 25th city ranks promotions batch has concluded, and staff have rejected every city seeking promotion to Senator or Governor.

One city was considered as a candidate for Governor, while four others were considered for Senator. Titsensaki was rejected for Governor by a single vote margin, losing 3-4 in staff votes, while Spruce Valley, Eagleshore, Nymphalia, and Genesis were unanimously rejected for Senator.

Results for the next batch of promotions will be announced on June 30th.

by KittyCat11231, last update: 5/22/2018 @ 9:46 PM EDT

SPORTS & GAMES - The Amazing Race 9 Premieres July 1st

MinecraftYoshi26 announced the next season of The Amazing Race early Wednesday morning, May 23rd, to be hosted this Summer. The race begins on July 1st.

The Amazing Race is a reality game show series hosted by MinecraftYoshi26 since 2014. Each season pits several teams of two against each other in a race around the MRT, traveling to different locations and completing challenges to advance. The season is divided into different episodes, known as legs, in which teams race to be the first to the next pit stop, located at the end of each leg. The team to arrive last at a pit stop is usually eliminated in that leg, and only three teams typically remain for the final leg.

MinecraftYoshi26 announced The Amazing Race 9 will feature a "Dead End", without specifying what it entails. The race is scheduled for sometime in the Summer.

by KittyCat11231, last update: 6/1/2018 @ 9:36 PM EDT

SoSo123 Permanently Banned

SoSo123 was permanently banned by Frumple on Saturday night, May 13th.

Frumple said the ban was issued "due to repeated instances of disrespect and not understanding the consequences of his actions".

Frumple elaborated on SoSo123's ban in Discord early on Sunday, saying he was acting "very entitled and argumentative" in certain instances, including "arguing with Yoshi in Discord #events and demanding that he should change the time of his events to accommodate the asian timezones", "demanding that Yoshi do a WorldEdit in-game", and "arguing with me [Frumple] in-game and demanding for vanish permissions for non-staff, even after it was explained to him why this would be a bad idea". Frumple said that he confronted SoSo123 and "asked him to consider how his actions could be considered rude", but that he refused to do so, for which Frumple told him he was "fed up with his arguing" and was considering banning him, to which he responded with a request to be banned.

Following his ban, SoSo123 released a statement in a Google Doc in which he criticized Frumple's handling of the situation in November in which he received a double warning, labeling him as "ignorant, overreacting, and annoying", and criticized most staff members for perceived corruption and incompetence, saying that every staff member except AP_Red, _HeavenAngel_, godzilltrain, and AlikSong does not deserve their position. He labeled _Kastle as having a "bad attitude" and accused him of starting conflicts and snooping in on private conversations. He also labeled MinecraftYoshi26 as having a "bad attitude", said he was "only an admod to create games", and said he "was a d**k" after he declined to do a WorldEdit request. He also labeled megascatterbomb, hvt2011, and Narnia17 as "meh admods", called cal76 and CynraSilver "ignorant", and criticized Tom_Pairs for "supporting Kastle no matter what". He concluded by saying that the server was ruined by a "f**ked up staff team".

SoSo123 was the mayor of Freedon, Stoneedge, and Chalxior, and owned companies including the airline FreeAir. Frumple announced in Discord that SoSo123's assets on the server will be distributed in accordance to his will on the wiki.

by KittyCat11231, last update: 5/13/2018 @ 10:36 AM EDT

_Kastle Reinstated As Trial Mod 17 Hours After Demotion

_Kastle was reinstated by Frumple as a Trial Mod on Wednesday evening, May 9th, after being demoted earlier in the day.

_Kastle sent an email, which Admins learned about at the ASM on Sunday, May 6th, to the school attended by banned player Mercury203, who has engaged in a campaign of harassment against MRT members since his ban in November 2017, joining with alternate accounts and spamming players with disparaging attacks, including a death threat in at least one instance. Kastle's email included chat logs of Mercury's communications on the server.

According to Frumple, Kastle did not seek his approval to contact Mercury's school. He did inform an Admin of the fact he was sending the email, according to Frumple, but Frumple indicated that did not amount to approval from that Admin, and that Kastle should have sought direct approval from Frumple. Frumple said that "due to some sort of miscommunication, _Kastle was under the impression that he had approval from the admin", but that "he still did not contact me directly for such a serious issue".

Frumple, in his announcement of Kastle's demotion in Discord, that his contact with Mercury's school could "expose the server to possible legal involvement with the school, the police, or even Mercury and his family, and this is something that we are currently not prepared for nor looking forward to", and that he does "not think it is appropriate for a staff member to deal with such a serious server and IRL issue unilaterally".

_Kastle became a staff member since April 9th, 2017. His demotion was the first time a staff member had been removed for misconduct since yeamanator132 was banned on January 2nd, 2015.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/9/2018 @ 6:52 PM EDT

Four New Senators Promoted

Four new players have been promoted to Senator in the latest city ranks promotions batch

MC_Protocol was promoted for the Port City of Victoria, AlfiePops was promoted for New Woodbury, sesese9 was promoted for Scarborough, and woorich999 was promoted for Richville. Three candidates for Senator and one for Governor were denied promotion.

The server is back up after a few hours of maintenance on Wednesday, May 9th in which the Citizens, DiscordSRV, and VPNGuard plugins were installed.

The Citizens and DiscordSRV plugins have been being tested on the beta server since April. Citizens allows players to create NPCs, while DiscordSRV allows communication between Minecraft and Discord. For the Citizens plugin, a limit will be placed on the number of NPCs a player can create, based upon rank. Trustees will have up to 5 NPCs, Councillors will have up to 10, Mayors will have up to 20, Senators will have up to 30, Governors will have up to 50, Premiers will have up to 100, and staff members will have no limit on NPCs.

Frumple announced on Thursday night, May 3rd, that the VPNGuard plugin was being tested on the beta server as well. The plugin is intended to block players from connecting to the server using a VPN or proxy, and will only affect Guests. Frumple announced the plugin was being implemented in response to attempts by banned player Mercury203 to harass server members using alternate accounts, using VPN and proxy services to evade IP bans.

The beta server is now closed indefinitely until it is needed again, Frumple said.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/9/2018 @ 4:27 PM EDT

CynraSilver Promoted To Admin

CynraSilver, formerly known as mikefishr, was promoted to Admin at the Administrative Staff Meeting immediately preceding the GSM.

Frumple said CynraSilver was one of multiple players nominated by AlikSong for the position when he resigned from Admin on May 2nd.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/6/2018 @ 6:52 PM EDT

Quiris Promoted To Premier

The city of Quiris, owned by _HeavenAngel_, was promoted to Premier at the GSM.

Quiris is now one of 10 cities holding the highest possible city rank.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/6/2018 @ 6:53 PM EDT

May GSM Concludes

The May 2018 GSM concluded on Sunday, May 6th. See our Twitter page at http://twitter.com/news_mbs for live updates as they were posted during the GSM.

An Administrative Staff Meeting, or ASM, took place an hour before the GSM.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/6/2018 @ 6:56 PM EDT

New Changes To 300 Block Rule

Frumple announced at the GSM, in response to a proposal by autobus22, that the 300 block rule would be maintained, but with an additional new rule.

The 300 block rule states that no player may build within 300 blocks of another town without permission from that town's mayor. The new addition to this rule is that players building outside of the 300 block radius of another town but within a 500 block radius must coordinate with that town's mayor, but the town's mayor cannot deny permission for the player to build within the 300-500 block radius zone, and must work with the player in a "fair and reasonable manner".

With a yet-to-be implemented rule change announced at the GSM, players who receive a double warning will now require a statement of reflection on what they did wrong for the warning to be cleared.

The rule change was proposed by TalonPlays, who also proposed demoting players who are double warned to Guest, a proposal which was rejected. The purpose of the new rule is to ensure that players who receive a double warning are aware of their transgression and will not commit the same offense again before their warning is cleared.

The rule will also likely apply to members who receive two single warnings which are effective at the same time, Frumple said in response to a question by a member.

Frumple said, in response to a question from MBS News, that the rule change is not yet in effect and will not be implemented until Admins have a chance to discuss it at a later date.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/6/2018 @ 9:54 PM EDT

Properties On The Old World Will Not Be Auctioned

Staff clarified, in response to an auction request by jphgolf4321 and Narnia17 for Fairfax-Atlanta Metropolitan Airport on the old world, that old world properties will not be included in GSM property auctions.

jphgolf4321 and Narnia17 sent in an auction request for Fairfax-Atlanta Metropolitan Airport, or AFK, an airport located in the northeast old world at the cities of Fairfax, owned by _frozen, and Atlanta, owned by kiwirainbow, located not far south of the MRT International Airport. The airport was originally built in 2014, and has been under stagnant reconstruction by kiwirainbow and hnt for years. The auction request was denied on the basis that staff did not want to set a precedent with auctioning properties on the old world.

jphgolf4321 and Narnia17 were told they may seek a transfer of ownership of the airport from kiwirainbow, after which their proposal to complete their airport may be approved, although concerns were raised over approving large construction projects on the old world.

AyyLion has won The Mole 9 after a ten episode season, winning a final prize of $4858 out of a possible $18000, while sesese9 has been revealed as the mole.

The Mole is a game show in which several contestants compete over the course of several episodes to complete group challenges to earn money for the final prize, which will ultimately be won by one person. MinecraftYoshi26 annouced the highest possible final prize is $18,000 for this season. One person, however, is secretly designated as the mole, and is tasked with inconspicuously sabotaging these efforts and removing money from the prize. The non-mole contestants take a quiz at the end of each episode which asks questions about the identity of the mole, and the person with the lowest score is eliminated from the game.

MinecraftYoshi26 announced he will be hosting Big Brother and The Amazing Race this summer.

by KittyCat11231, last updated: 5/5/2018 @ 7:10 PM EDT

AlikSong Resigns As Admin

AlikSong announced Wednesday morning, May 2nd, that he was resigning from Admin, to be demoted to Mod.

AlikSong told MBS News he was resigning due to his inactivity, which he said was due to an increase in his real life responsibilities. He said he made a recommendation for someone to be promoted to Admin in his place.

KittyCat11231 and jphgolf4321 have assumed office as Associate Justices of the United Cities for the new term, after the General Assembly confirmed the nominations made by United Cities Chief Justice cal76.

KittyCat11231 previously served two terms as an Associate Justice, two terms as Attorney General, and more recently two terms as Chief Justice. jphgolf4321 served two non-consecutive terms as President, a term as an Associate Justice, and a brief period as Acting Chief Justice.

sesese9 was confirmed by the General Assembly as the new Secretary of Enforcement of the United Cities, after being nominated to the position by United Cities President _Kastle.

sesese9 is a newcomer to the position, having never served previously as an Officer of the United Cities.

The new Officers of the United Cities took office after being elected at the April 2018 election. _Kastle begun his second term as President and Skelezomperman his second term as Attorney General, while ryanfr became Vice President and cal76 became Chief Justice.

_Kastle won the Presidential election with 76.47% of the vote, compared to 14.70% received by BernCow and 8.82% received by Purrcat2010.

ryanfr won the Vice Presidential election in a four way race which went into three rounds of instant runoff. In the first round, ryanfr received 41.18% of the vote, Cookie46910 received 32.35% of the vote, dragonbloon419 received 14.71% of the vote, and MindBender15 received 11.76% of the vote. Since no candidate received a majority, the last place candidate, MindBender15, was eliminated and had his votes redistributed to the second choice candidates chosen by his voters. When the votes were reconsidered in a second round, ryanfr went up to 50.00%, just under the threshold to win, while Cookie46910 remained on 32.35% and dragonbloon419 went up to 17.65%. Since ryanfr was still just under a majority, a third round took place, in which dragonbloon419's votes were redistributed to the next choice candidates chosen by his voters. This resulted in ryanfr winning with 67.65% of the vote, while Cookie46910 remained on 32.35%.

Skelezomperman won the Attorney General election with the largest margin of victory for any candidate not running unopposed in United Cities election history, receiving 90.91% of the vote, while his opponent, Frosty_Creeper10, won 9.09%.

And cal76 won the Chief Justice election with 79.41% of the vote, compared to 11.76% received by CaptLincoln and 8.82% received by _ezzo.

The new Officers will remain in office for an expected term of three months.